LA LIFE: Tacos, Music, Staycation, Open Streets, Picnic & Pie

Feel like you need a vacation Tomatoes but just can’t swing the expense? Well…sometimes the best vacation is a staycation and the “Spiked Tropical Punch Tasting” in Culver City is a great escape. Delight your taste buds at “The LA Taco Festival” and raise funds for a great charity. If you’re looking for a music festival then look no further than the “Echo Park Rising” Fest, Tomatoes. Ever wish some of our streets were car free? Well, that wish is granted in Hollywood this Sunday. And the Mash Gallery is celebrating light with art and summer is the perfect time to shine a light on…Light. Perfect summertime happenings, Tomatoes!

August 17. LA Taco Festival

If you love munching on Taco’s, the “LA Taco Festival” at Grand Park has some of the tastiest tacos with over 20 vendors and live bands to feast your ears on . It’s also a wonderful way to support Jovenes, a nonprofit investing in LA’s homeless and at-risk youth. Eating for a good cause always make everything more delish Tomatoes.

Back in 2009, Jovenes had an ambitious idea to bring our city together and support our youth by celebrating a food everyone loves: TACOS! Believe it or not, there wasn’t a Taco Festival in Los Angeles, so, they immediately jumped on that opportunity to raise funds for their endeavors. Bravo! The folks, “Jovenes”, behind the “LA Taco Festival” aren’t taco experts, but they are experts at solving the problem of youth homelessness and the festival grew out of that passion to provide a place of personal transformation for homeless youth between the ages of 18-25. They provide everything from emergency shelter to permanent housing, helping youth get off the streets and into an apartment of their own and provide other community-based services help the youth lead productive lives. Helping “Jovenes” help youth with delish Tacos is a marvelous goal for this festival Tomatoes.

Aug 15-18. Echo Park Rising

The annual “Echo Park Rising” Music Festival is back for its 9th year, celebrating the creative residents and businesses of Echo Park by opening up their community to all Angelenos for the enjoyment of live music, independent art and fun times. Plus, it’s free Tomatoes! Woo Hoo!

No tickets required and all ages are welcome and will love it. By the way, Gals, Echo Park Rising, was named Best Music Festival by LA Weekly and the spirit of this wonderfully artistic and expressive community shines. There are multiple stages and activities located on the main routes of Sunset Blvd, Glendale Blvd, Alvarado Avenue, Echo Park Avenue and beyond. Echo Park Rising is presented by the Echo Park Chamber of Commerce and the programming is curated by Spaceland Presents.

If you’re sometimes overwhelmed by technology, join the club. Unless you’re under the age of 18, keeping up with everything that’s out there, can be daunting, not to mention keeping all of your technology up and running too . Wouldn’t it be great to have someone to call when you need tech help (besides your savvy tech friend)? Well listen in to our conversation with Liz Hamburg, founder of Candoo Tech, providing in-home and remote tech support and training specifically designed for older adults. And if you have aging parents, keeping them connected, and safer with technology can be a lifesaver. Listen in here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Aug 21. Tropical Staycation

Spiked Tropical Punch is what Downtown Culver City will be serving to make you feel like you are in a Tropical Paradise, ladies…without the stress of travel, of course. To enhance the experience, the sound of the tropics will be playing to make the staycation complete. I could certainly use this kind of an escape if only for an evening.

As always for these events, check in at any participating businesses to pick up at any “Third Wednesday Passport” and be sure to turn it in at the end of the night so you don’t miss out on the raffle to win a prize. Just sayin’ Tomatoes.

Aug 18. CicLAvia Meets Hollywood

“CicLAvia” is the largest open streets program in the US and they will be opening certain streets in West, Central and East Hollywood so we can all walk, bike, roll, and stroll through some of LA’s most iconic streets! Or skateboard as this Tomato has chosen to do at almost every CicLAvia event since 2010 . Aint she something?!

This fab skateboarding Tomato said, “I feel like I’m free, like I don’t have any worries, and I’m enjoying what I’m doing. It makes it even better when people along the way say, ‘Hey, look, there’s that grandma on the longboard!” Now my preferable mode of travel for this event would be walking, but I think the whole point of temporarily closing streets to autos and all motorized vehicles is to give us all that feeling of freedom and to explore, socialize and exercise in neighborhoods we might not otherwise explore so freely by foot, bike, or skateboard. And mark your calendars Ladies, because there’ll be more CicLAvia events in October and December. So, let’s take advantage Tomatoes!

Aug 17. MASH Anniversary & Lumen Exhibit

The Mash Gallery, in the heart of the arts district, is having their 1-year anniversary and they’ve chosen to commemorate it with a celebration of light inspired art. Their champagne anniversary reception will be full of fun with the Lumen Exhibit on display and it’s 6 contemporary artists on hand to meet and greet. Congratulations!

The Lumen Art Exhibition, curated by Haleh Mashian, starts with the anniversary party tomorrow night and the multi-sensory exhibit runs through Sept 21 . Lumen is a showcase of artists exploring the optics of light and color with a range of work from the two-dimensional, painted canvases, to three-dimensional works composed of alternative materials, plastics, glass, and metal. It’s looks like this Illuminated Light Art Exhibition is fascinating and a must see, Tomatoes.

The Three Tomatoes LA Life editor, Debbie Zipp is your friendly guide to the best of everything in LA with a tomato style perspective. Debbie is an actor, producer, and writer. She is best known for her recurring role as Donna on the CBS series "Murder She Wrote" starring Angela Lansbury. She has had many other TV and stage roles and has starred in over 300 national TV commercials. As head of In The Trenches Productions, Debbie produced, directed, acted in many short films for her company. Her book, The Aspiring Actor's Handbook: What Seasoned Actors Wish They Had Known was recently published.